Duterte on drug-related deaths: Expect 20,000 or 30,000 more

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday evening said the Philippines could expect about 20,000 or 30,000 more deaths in his administration's bloody war on drugs.

Duterte said the number of casualties will triple if he fails to get rid the country of the drug problem.

"I tell you, I will triple it. 'Pag hindi nasunod ang gusto ko, to get rid of my country (of the drug problem), you can expect 20,000 or 30,000 more (deaths)," Duterte said in Davao City after his return from an official visit to Japan.

While the crime rate has been dropping for several years, the murder rate has risen under the Duterte presidency, according to official Philippine National Police (PNP) data.

In the first three months of his administration, police recorded a total of 3,760 murders, compared with 2,359 in the same period last year -- a rise of 59 percent.

In what seemed to be a justification for the death of drug suspects, Duterte also said he is losing policemen to the war on drugs.

"There is a war going on. I am losing two to three policeman a day. It's a war," Duterte said.

However, Duterte's claim that two or three policemen were dying every day in his battle to rid the country of illegal drugs had been refuted by PNP data.

According to statistics from the PNP, from July 1, when Duterte launched his campaign against drugs, to October 12, when he spoke in Manila, 13 police officers were killed. That's an average of one every eight days.

But according to a 2015 survey by the Office of the President's Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the main drug policy and research unit, the Philippines has fewer than half that many drug users. - with a report from Reuters